CaribPR Wire

CARIBPR Wire, PASAY CITY, Philippines, Mon. Feb. 13, 2023:The 1st National Peace Convention was held on January 25, 2023 in the Philippines under the theme, “Peace Builds One Nation, One Future: Peace is Here.” It was attended by over 1,500 peace advocates to build a holistic roadmap towards the attainment of national unity through peace in consonance with the Marcos Administration’s agenda.

Dr. Ronald Adamat, Commissioner of the Commission on Higher Education, (CHED), and Founding Chairman of Volunteer Individuals for Peace, (VIP), spearheaded the event.

“We want peace to reign in our country. We want peace to be the language every one of us will speak and every Filipino and every foreigner will understand. Today, let’s declare peace as a pandemic. Infect people not to rest in peace but to live in peace,” said Dr. Adamat.

Dr. Adamat is the first Filipino recipient of the prestigious Mahatma MK Gandhi Prize for Non-Violent Peace awarded last year in recognition of his contributions to peacebuilding including the higher education.

In attendance also was Chairman Lee Man-hee of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light, (HWPL), a 92 year-old Korean war veteran.

“Peacebuilding in Mindanao after conflict is becoming known worldwide. This is the case of transforming death into life for peace. Starting with Mindanao and the Philippines, when we unite in love, peace will come to our world. For this reason, everyone in the Philippines has to become one and work together as messengers of peace,” said Chairman Lee.

The two peace advocates first met in 2017 during HWPL World Peace Summit held in South Korea. As an expression of their shared commitment to promoting peace, CHED and HWPL signed a Memorandum of Agreement, (MOA), in 2018 to integrate peace education in the higher education curricula.

The convention commenced with the first Plenary Session followed by parallel sessions in the afternoon. The parallel sessions were conducted separately for five sector groups – lawmakers and non-government organizations, academe and youth, religious and ethnic groups, women, and media. Each session drafted a resolution which contained their solidarity with the organizers’ peace-building efforts.

The five resolutions were consolidated during the second Plenary Session to call for President Bongbong Marcos to proclaim January 24th as ‘National Peace Day’ or “Truce Day”.

The date January 24th was proposed in commemoration of a civilian-led peace agreement signed at General Santos City in 2014 to boost reconciliation among the local communities. It was proposed by Chairman Lee to mediate between the existing conflict in Mindanao at the time. The date was later declared as ‘HWPL Peace Day’ by then Maguindanao governor Toto Mangudadatu in 2015 and BARMM Chief Minister and MILF Chairman Ahod Ebrahim in 2016.

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CaribPR Wire, WASHINGTON, D.C., Weds. May 11, 2022: Blood shortages due to COVID-19 are prevalent across the world. In January, the American Red Cross declared “a national blood crisis”, calling for an increase in donation. This blood crisis was called the worst shortage in over a decade, and it posed a significant risk to patient care.

In South Korea, 18,000 donors from Heavenly Culture, World Peace and Restoration of Light (HWPL) and Shincheonji Church of Jesus collaboratively donated blood during a two-week blood drive beginning April 18th. This joint blood drive was recorded as the largest single group blood donation in the country.

Namsun Cho, head of the Korean Red Cross Blood Services, said: “When the impact of the Omicron reached its peak, Shincheonji Church of Jesus launched a large scale of blood donation. It was like rain during a drought. We are surprised that the number of donors exceeded 6,000 in 3 days and more people participated. We appreciate their life-saving dedication.”

A donation of this magnitude is particularly impactful, as even a single blood donation can save up to three lives.

“They did a really great job in the life-sharing movement. This scale is equivalent to one army corps donating blood for a year. The number of blood donors is nearly four times the number in a normal day, a great help in overcoming the current blood supply crisis,” said an official from the Blood Services.

“We also appreciate the members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus who participated in the nationwide plasma donation for the development of a treatment for COVID-19 back in 2020,” he added.

In South Korea, blood donation certificates are issued to blood donors that can be used for a reduced fee when paying for a future blood transfusion. All the donors of Shincheonji and HWPL gave their personal certificates to alleviate the financial burden of patients in need of a blood transfusion.

Efforts to aid in replenishing and protecting the blood supply were not limited to just South Korea, however. In Washington, DC, members of Shincheonji organized a blood drive to donate plasma and help accelerate the development of a cure for COVID-19. The campaign organized and actively participated in by the DC congregation of Shincheonji Church of Jesus included four mass blood and plasma drives. Drawing hundreds of donors, two of the blood and plasma drives were held at Children’s National Hospital and two were held at INOVA Hospital.

The heart of Shincheonji Church of Jesus is clearly shown in their dedication to continuing to help their surrounding communities despite their members having also suffered greatly during the pandemic. Aligned with the ideals of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, HWPL is carrying out long-term peace projects based on solidarity with civil society and international organizations in 193 countries. The priorities of both organizations make an ideal partnership as their members donate blood together, and this is evidenced by the impact of their joint effort.

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CARIBPR WIRE, WASHINGTON, D.C., Sat. Mar. 19, 2022: In the present era where the safety of individual lives is constantly threatened by widespread conflicts, peacebuilding is currently demanded to develop into a system that promotes the values, norms, and culture of peace for all countries, communities and individuals, based on the shared principles of coexistence and interdependence of the global community.

That’s the word from Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light, (HWPL),

HWPL held its 6th Annual Commemoration of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) online on March 14, 2022 with over 5,000 participants, under the theme, ‘Institutionalizing Peace: Building a Legal Foundation for Sustainable Peace.’

The UN-affiliated NGO, HWP), has endorsed combined efforts of governments and civil society efforts that lead to the institutionalization of peace in each society. Its DPCW proclaimed in 2016 has provided a guide to citizen-led peace advocacy, in line with international organizations including the UN, the African Union (AU), and the EU that have stressed normative guidance as a standard for substantial conflict resolution with the participation of women and youth.

As for the need to “build a legal foundation for sustainable peace,” Dr. Kamal Hossain, the President of International Law Association, (ILA), Bangladesh Branch said: “The precondition for achieving peace is securing peoples’ inalienable rights, which include equality before the law, equal protection of the law, non-discrimination, freedom to associate, freedom to assemble, and freedom to express.”

In addition, Ms. Anna Cervenakova, a member of HWPL International Law Peace Committee, mentioned: “In the world’s ongoing crisis, governments question themselves, what kind of action would be the best action to take in order to overcome the emergency crisis. The need for human development, by overcoming the public health emergency, climate change, economic decline, restrictions on human rights, brings us to the point of how these burdens are solved by the institutions of the governments. Much of the burdens of the work is, therefore, on the side of the governments, so it is important what are the priorities in their institutional agenda.”

As one of the speakers, Prof. Rommel Santos Diaz of international law at the Universidad INCE, said that government offices including the Senate, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Attorney General’s Office in the Dominican Republic have been working with NGOs for the purpose of the “state’s decision-making for public policies on citizen security and human rights” based on the DPCW.

Responding to prevalent threats from religious conflicts, Imam Moulana Shafiek Nolan in Westridge of South Africa expressed: “(T)he DPCW emphasizes the importance of peace between religions and the cessation of religious conflict. The monthly scripture dialogue hosted by HWPL particularly aims to create a platform to break down misunderstandings of religious scripture and practices, mirroring the values expressed in the DPCW.”

Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL said that wars and conflicts continue to occur since “wars can be triggered if it is allegedly necessary according to the current international law, which is why this cannot put an end to war.” He highlighted that all members of the global village need to be united as one as “messengers of peace” to “certainly create a thing (international law for peace) that can bring about peace.”

On February 28th, HWPL issued a statement on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that includes refugee protection and global youth solidarity against war and is delivering it to 192 countries. The DPCW presents principles of peace to be promoted by the international society such as prohibiting the use of force, fostering religious freedom, and civic participation to spread a culture of peace. It highlights that sustainable peace can be achieved through all members of the global society by identifying not only nation-states but also international organizations and all citizens as the main actors in building peace.

For the full text of the DPCW or Statement Regarding Russia and Ukraine, you may visit www.hwpl.kr

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